to your mother

THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING A MOTHER AND LOVING A MOTHER...FROM A MOTHER OF TWO.







Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Bought the Farm


Lots for which to be thankful.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Recipe For A No-Stress Thanksgiving Meal

For this meal you must start a little in advance...there are no pictures, this gets a little messy.


4 days before the meal:


  • have a state trooper seize the tags off your van, leaving you and your two wee ones stranded on the side of Route 70 to wait until your husband can come pick you up

  • spend four hours at the MVA to clear up the miscommunication mess between your insurance company and the DMV, pay no fines, get new tags

  • call your lawyer uncle to find out that the charges for the ticket issued you for driving an uninsured vehicle can lead to a suspended license for a year or possibly a year in jail

  • make a list of stuff to take care of to insure that you don't go to jail after the court date.

  • love yourself, love your family

3 days before the meal:


  • chip your front tooth while assisting your three year old son with dressing for the day

  • cut lip on chipped tooth

  • have husband come home from work at lunchtime to inform you that his back is "out", meaning that he is unable to function while standing or sitting
  • after putting the kids to bed, go grocery shopping for the Thanksgiving meal that you will provide at your parents' house in 3 days
  • put all frozen stuff to transport to your parents' house in a pile in the freezer, put cold stuff in a bag in the refrigerator, put non-perishables in a bag and leave on the counter, make a list of other things that need to be added before leaving the house
  • PUT FROZEN TURKEY IN A PAN TO THAW IN THE FRIDGE (hindsight, ya know)
  • love yourself, love your family

2 days before the meal,

  • your list of things to do today is to survive by loving yourself and loving your family
  • put off dealing with the possibility of going to jail until next week...the court date hasn't been set yet and there are bigger turkeys to roast at this point
  • get news that the loan for your home purchase has been approved
  • discover that closing will be in 5 days and movers will move you in 7 days
  • continue to pack up your house, one box at a time
  • love yourself, love your family

1 day before the meal,

  • make spinach dip (it's always good the day after)
  • pack some boxes, one box at a time
  • don't think, just do
  • love yourself, love your family

Morning of the meal,

  • have your husband with the wacked back watch the kids from his recliner as you sleep in until 7:30 a.m.
  • get yourself and two children ready for the day
  • consult list of stuff to take to your parents' house
  • discover turkey has leaked toxic turkey juice all over the fridge (see 3 days before list)
  • forget about the aforementioned list of stuff to take
  • repack cold stuff in a clean bag, double bag the turkey in plastic, leave the toxic mess for later
  • herd children and bags of food to the van
  • forget to bring the milk cause that was on the forgotten list
  • leave the front door unlocked in case your loving, debilitated husband needs to call 911 while you are gone
  • drive 2 hours to parents' house

Arrive at parents house,

  • the prepping, cooking, and other such follies of this Thanksgiving meal don't really matter after everything else you have dealt with before today
  • feel blessed that you have family with which to share time
  • remember for what you are thankful
  • love yourself, love your family

Friday, November 19, 2010

Was It Really a Month Ago?

Anyway, SAIC was proudly part of a walk for breast cancer and we as a family decided to participate. We were there for the hoop-la, the donuts, the coffee, the doughnuts, the free hats and the kids enjoyed the doughnuts. We bravely stood on the hill to get our picture taken with the hundreds of other SAIC employees to document such a wonderful, team building event. The kids even sat still long enough for us to get a rare family picture...
Then we lined up with about a million others who had gathered in downtown Baltimore to walk the closed streets for an important purpose. It took a little bit for the line to start moving...meanwhile, in this crowd of jovial, upbeat, doughnut-filled walkers, the screaming began. I won't go into details, but it wasn't pretty and we couldn't roll our eyes and scoff cause it was our own children. I looked at Mike, he looked at me, I suggested ending our walk directly across the street where we had parked the van, Joe saw the playground behind us and our decision was made.



This one goes out to anyone and everyone whose lives have been touch by breast cancer or any sort of cancer for that matter...we played for YOU.







Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Snacking At Mom's

During a visit to Mom and Dad's a couple weeks ago, I was helping Mom change the sheets on her bed. Julie, left to her own devices, climbed onto the kitchen table, pulled the plastic bag of Cheerios from it's box, dragged the bag into Mom's room, climbed into a chair and proceeded to eat her snack while watching me work. Not to be out done, Joe joined in and a good time was had.



Joe kept pretending to bite Julie's face.

She didn't find it funny...


but Mom sure did.

Now Dad knows our secret of what happened while he was out at Wal-Mart...well, at least part of the story. At least this will explain the Cheerios in his laundry pile.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Buying the Farm

or at least 2.5 acres...settlement should be sometime this month. The house is a mile from where I grew up...welcome home!









Dreamy!